My dog is dying, what is the best way to bury her when she goes so that she won't be dug up?

Question

This is totally legal and encouraged where I live, but we have a lot of wild animals and I don't want them digging up our 80 pound labrador. The vet is coming on Wednesday to give her a needle and we've picked a nice spot for her grave. Stones? Some kind of repellent? Lime? Please help. And no sick answers, please, we are already grieving her

Answer 1

When I have to bury one of my pets I roll the animal up in an old sheet or blanket or something similar. Pour 1/2 a 50# bag of lime in the bottom of the grave, place deceased animal in hole then the rest of the lime. Fill the hole with dirt and cover the top of the gravesite with stones.. Hopes this helps, sorry for your loss

Answer 2

I'm sorry you are losing your dog. Dogs are the greatest! Give yourself time to grieve/mourn, and if you can, be there with your dog, to love him/her and hold him/her when she/he goes. Can you imagine a better way to go than in the arms of your loved ones?? There are already some great answers here. Definitely dig your hole atleast 6 feet deep which is going to be a great deal of work for your 80 lb. dog, so start now, so that when the time comes for you dog to be put down, you can spend your time with the dog, instead of digging. It would also help to have everything you need ready before Wed, if you are going to wrap your dog in a blanket afterwards, if you need help carrying him/her. Animals get pretty heavy when they die and are limp, and I'm pretty small so I would need help to haul an 80lb lab. My lab is only 60 lbs, and I can barely lift him. The stones are a good idea too, like others have said to mark the grave and make it harder to dig if an animal were to come by. If worse come to worse and your dogs grave gets dug up, just rebury the body deeper, but if you make sure the hole is 6 feet deep you most likely will not encounter any problems with it being dug up. Our thoughts are with you during this difficult time.

Answer 3

I'm sorry to hear about your dog. Having helped bury a few family pets, I think I can speak from a practical standpoint.

You'll want to dig a deep grave for such a large animal. If you aren't using a coffin- and I'm assuming you aren't- make it a bit deeper. Put a healthy coating of lime on her do there won't be an aroma when she starts to decompose. Then add a layer of gravel: Most critters don't like digging through that because it hurts their paws.

And yes, large stones on top will help.

Answer 4

I am so sorry to hear you're losing your beloved pet. I know it's not easy. I don't know about the lime, but I think putting some large stones over her grave would be a good start. Another option would be to use something like slate (flat) stones and put some large terracotta containers on top. You can put plants in them, which would give you something bright to see when you go there. Plus, the added weight might discourage the wild animals from trying to dig her up. Good luck.

Answer 5

Wrap her in plastic before interring her, deeply. This will reduce any odors given off, and deter other animals from trying to dig in that spot. After covering her with all but 12 inches of earth, sprinkle a layer of mothballs in the grave, covering the whole area, and then finish the burial. They will be low enough to allow grass or flowers to grow on top, but act as an added scent barrier.
Sorry about your loss!

Answer 6

I am so sorry to hear that. You could consider cremation. When my Golden Retriever (15 years old at the time) passed away about two years ago, we decided to have him cremated because we were in the process of moving and did not want to leave him behind, uncertain of what would become of him when we were gone. (The people buying the house were planning major outdoor renovations, and we did not want to worry about them digging him up and throwing him away). So we took him to our vet and had him cremated. We spread some of his ashes around our 15 acre property that he had lived his whole life on, and then we put the rest in separate urns so that we could all keep him with us forever. Sadly, since then, I have also had to put down one of my beloved ferrets. I also had him cremated. From now on, I will have my pets cremated so that I know they will be with me always, no matter where life takes me. Hope this information helps in some way with this incredibly difficult time.

Answer 7

I have always made sure to bury my dogs *very* deep, and put a large stone or several stones over the grave, not only to protect it, but also to mark the grave.

I am very sorry for your loss. I know it's hard. Best wishes to you and your family.

Answer 8

Sorry for your loss. You will have to bury her deep so her scent will not rise to the surface soil. Covering the grave site with large stones will also discourage animals from disturbing her.

Answer 9

I'd say wrap her like you would a mummy to preserve what ever that is left when something dies. Then bury it like you would. Put stones around the perimeter to keep away other animals that have a keen sense of smell. Or have the area sprayed with something that draws their smell away? Something like pinewood that would probably irritate the nose.

Answer 10

We live next to the National Forest; lots of wild creatures here; we double bagged our dogs when they died with heavy duty contractor bags and covered the site with rocks; nothing has bothered them for about 2 years now.